Google just inched closer to plugin-free video chat in your browser by adding a key component of the new real-time messaging framework WebRTC to the beta version of Chrome. However, there are still some roadblocks ahead before WebRTC becomes a widely adopted standard. Read more »
To help build its Google+ audience, Google worked with Make Magazine to create Maker Camp — 30 days of DIY tutorials and cool science experiences targeted at kids aged 13-to-18. The camp was so successful that Make has already committed to a repeat in 2013. Read more »
GMail users are now able to video chat with up to ten of their contacts, thanks to a new integration of Google+ Hangouts. The group video chat platform replaces Google Talk’s video chat, and is part of Google’s efforts to merge all of its messaging products. Read more »
Google’s Hangouts group video chat service just got more accessible to deaf and hard-of-hearing people, thanks to a new app called Hangout Captions. The app allows users to caption conversations in real time or use professional transcription services. Machine-powered transcription could be next. Read more »
Google has Google Talk for text, voice and video chats, Hangouts for group video conferencing and Messenger for mobile messaging. All of these properties could one day merge into a more unified experience, the Google+ Hangouts team said at Google I/O Wednesday. Read more »
Google is working on turning its Hangouts video chat platform into a collaborative live streaming product that will give everyone the ability to stream their Hangout sessions to an unlimited number of viewers. Check out our interview with Google Engineering Director Chee Chew for details. Read more »
Google+ Hangouts are a great way to communicate with a small group of people — except when you’re blind, and don’t know who is part of a Hangout. A new Chrome extension wants to solve this by making Hangouts accessible to blind and visually impaired people. Read more »
Chill users can now watch the latest TV shows on the social video platform, thanks to an integration of Hulu’s content. However, get ready to set your alarms if you want to chill on Chill.com while watching House: Hulu’s shows will run synchronized and scheduled. Read more »
Chrome will soon feature an open-source and open-codec implementation of Google Talk and Google+ Hangouts voice and video chat, thanks to the WebRTC framework the company open-sourced earlier this year. This implementation will replace the proprietary plugin that’s currently bundled with Chrome. Read more »
Vevo gets into the real-time collaborative media consumption game with a new feature called Vevo Rooms that allows music fans to program playlists and chat with one another while they’re watching music videos together, Turntable.fm-style. Vevo Rooms is launched in collaboration with Chill. Read more »
YouTube is starting another round of its Next Creators programs, and this time, it’s inviting people from eight countries to join in from home: The site will teach producers for three months via Google+ Hangouts how to make better fitness and cooking videos. Read more »
Felicia Day wants to meet and greet as many fans as possible to promote her new web series. That’s why she is using Google+ Hangouts, with a twist: Day is experimenting with something she dubbed Hangout Housecalls, switching from one Hangout session to another. Read more »
Sites like Vimeo or Hulu could soon utilize Google+ Hangouts to let their users interact with each other in real time, thanks to the new Hangouts API. The API makes allows anyone to develop apps for Hangouts, and video services could benefit greatly from it. Read more »
Google is bolstering the feature set of its popular Google+ Hangouts video chat service by adding the ability to broadcast Hangouts sessions to an unlimited number of participants. Hangouts users can also now chat with their mobile devices, share their screens and access other Google services. Read more »
One of the better features of Google+ is Hangouts, in my opinion. Now VoIP and video chat service Fring is hoping users want to take that kind of experience one step further with Playgrounds, which allows you to chat with strangers about shared interests. Read more »
The Lollapalooza festival celebrates its 20th anniversary this weekend. We are all invited to join in on the fun through an online live stream that will feature close to 30 of the festival’s live performances, including performances by Ween, Coldplay and the Arctic Monkeys. Read more »
Google+ Hangouts users can now watch live streams from YouTube together, and YouTube wants to improve this integration in the near future by featuring live streams both within Hangouts and on its own website. This could add an interesting real-time social component to live webcasts. Read more »
Indie singer Daria Musk explored the boundaries of Goole+ Hangouts this weekend when she played a six-hour live concert on Google’s new video group chat service. Musk’s concert and her experiences with Google+ hint at some big opportunities for the future of live streaming. Read more »
Michael Dell likes Google’s new group video chat service Hangouts so much he wants to use it as a tool for customer service and sales. Dell revealed his thoughts about Hangouts on Google+, the social network that Google launched at the end of last month. Read more »
Check out the first interview show we’ve recorded entirely in Google Plus Hangouts: We invited Jamie “Dubs” Wilkinson and Casey Pugh to hang out with us, share some of their favorite YouTube videos and tell us a little bit about their new venture Vhx.tv. Read more »
Deaf and hard of hearing users may soon get more use out of Google’s much-hyped new group video chat service Hangouts, thanks to a field test that looks at ways to add support for American Sign Language. Initial feedback from hearing-impaired users is enthusiastic. Read more »
Netflix may have become the new face of evil for wireline Internet service providers as they seek to impose caps or tiers on subscribers. But it also looks like Netflix is willing to play the part of consumer advocate, countering myths ISPs perpetrate around broadband scarcity. Read more »
Leonado DiCaprio, Dexter Morgan and your mom are only some of the people who are using Google’s new and much-hyped video chatting feature Hangouts, if we can believe screenshots taken by users of the service. But of course, the question is: Can we? Read more »
Hangouts may be the killer feature of Google Plus, but the ability to join a Hangout could eventually come to third-party apps and services as well. Google has said that it wants to bring interoperability to the service, which could spell further trouble for Skype. Read more »
